weidemannia one

Strindberg helium

The Vocabula Review - August 2004 - Table of Contents - Helping get our language-act together.

kissthisguy.com - - The Archive of Misheard Lyrics

Not really.

Offered the front yard the attention it deserved. As I think I’ve said before, I find the activity of hand-weeding and getting the house in order provides me with a lot of time to think. The plethora of metaphors come quickly, and I take mental notes to remember to use them appropriately when they can help someone grapsp a difficult concept.

Sherry came across a fantastic deal on some vintage merchandise at a local estate sale. The downside is, she needed a rather large chunk of change to make it her own. On the surface, the only appropriate reaction, considering our current financial situation, would be to pass up on this. Maybe later when things are more stable. However, she convinced me this merchandise would move quickly on eBay or in the shop, and that our return on investment could be in the 200-300% range, if not higher. We agreed to tap the savings for this. She came back excited - she hit the MOTHERLODE! The plan is to begin posting this online and get our return on investment sooner, rather than later.

Again, perhaps my giving a bit more attention to the retro-resale business can create the income necessary to stay solvent while pursuing the independent contractor business as well…

On the personal development front, spent a few hours investigating online Flash resources, usergroups, and such. Sent in reservation to attend the OC Flash User Group, which meets the first Tuesday of each month. Rubbing elbows with the knowledgeable can increase my network, as well as provide possible connections to subject-matter experts if needed down the road.

Developed a Powerpoint template for weidemannia design. Carries the color scheme through from the website and business card. Wanted it to be clean, and not cluttered with images that would distract from the content. After all, I envision that most of the content for my presentations will have more graphics and illustration, and having imagery in the template would reduce its impact.

Put together a brief presentation that captures business system concepts. This will be used to serve as a calling card, as well as a freebie give-away to potential clients, to demonstrate my ability to use graphics to convey complex relationships. Could reinforce my ability to provide services to businesses in a fashion similar to what a sketch-artist does in court where cameras are not allowed. Super nichey.

Even though the phrase immediately brings to mind the Australian music group “The Easybeats” from the 60’s, I’ve discovered there is more to life than music. (Although, not much more.)

Started the day with a morning walk/swim and clocked in at 214lb.

Spent most of the day working on the functional design of the web application, designing in maximum modularity to allow it to be enhanced easily for individual clients. This application will be simple and elegant. As Robert Browning once penned less is more. I will attempt to remain true to delivering on this goal.

Teleconferenced with RF this afternoon and we discussed the business side of our relationship. Developing a business plan to keep us aligned on the mission. Decided to create a new entity so we can each pursue other activities independently, using our sole proprietor status. This weekend I plan to devote a lot of time and energy to getting these organizational ducks in a row. Will be chatting again on Monday afternoon.

[I do have to wash the car tomorrow, in case that guy from earlier in the week decides to stop over.]

Manana.

Began the day with my walk/swim. Invigorating! Should have started this routine years ago. Weigh in: 216lb.

Decided I LOVE the new home office arrangement. Having an additional table/desk changes my entire perspective on working from home. I’ve created my homecubicle with a view of the pool. Ran to Staples to get a few desk accessories.

Ended up with 2 bids on the book of Hitler WWII war photos on ebay… closes in 2 days so lets see how high it goes. Still waiting on the PayPal confirmation on the comics. Hopeful.

Submitted application for business corporate card. Need to isolate business and home expenses.

Moved ahead with reorganizing my various webs and domain names, created a few aliases and cleaned things up in preparation for the web application that RF and I are putting together. Built an initial skeleton to begin defining flow of the site. My personal goal is to make this: Simple and Elegant. Taking a very methodical and disciplined approach to storyboard and do the conceptual design work before diving into the coding. Also thought about setting up a Yahoo group where we can collaborate without having to deal with all the email noise. Will discuss it with him tomorrow…

Created an Warhol-like version of a photograph and have discovered some pretty cool techniques in Photoshop that make it pretty straightforward. Since it was a request from a friend, I won’t post the image here. But will perhaps create another one using a picture of my dog, CD. He won’t mind if his face is plastered all over the net.

The Founders of KM
Originally uploaded by epiclectic.

At a recent garage sale, I came across this old photograph tucked away in a dusty box full of discarded business magazines. Pencil notes on the back of the photo state “the gang getting together before attempting to actually build a marketing and sales knowledge community one more time - 1928″.

Since my last post, here’s what has been happening in my world…

eBay - Turns out that selling the comic books to the guy from Uruguay is getting complicated. The international shipping costs were excessive, so he wanted to use a Miami mailing address - but needed to confirm it. Also, he decided to have a friend in Spain (?) pay via PayPal, but her account seems to be inactive and is trying to straighten things out. Since I’m in no real rush, will just sit back hope that it works itself out.

The Car! The Car! - Received a call from a knife dealer in the San Fernando Valley asking about the car. Seemed willing to drive 60 miles to check it out. Depending on whether he successfully sells his car this week, he may stop over this weekend. If so, that would help relieve some of the impending financial issues. Also, one of the neighbors stopped me this afternoon and wanted to know the specifics on the car - she had a potential “buyer” on her cellphone, and was playing middleman asking questions and providing answers into the phone. So… will continue hoping that someone bites the bullet.

Door of Opportunity Opens - Monday afternoon, I ended up chatting with RF, mentioned in my post from a week ago. Turns out that our previous buisness venture is of even more interest now - expecially since my time and talents are very available. After speaking for an hour or so, I believe there will be some immediate application for lmy total immersion in Flash ActionScript last week. Also the work I had done for him two years ago is still valid and I can pick up where we left off. While we are still in the planning and development stage, I am very excited about this opportunity. Working out the legal stuff right now. If this could become a career, it would rate a “10″ on the “follow your passion” scale. FUN STUFF!!!

Door Closes - Today, I received a call from the consultant with whom I’ve been conversing. Unfortunately, the possibility of providing some consulting services for the customer that was being targeted seems nil. In light of their current situtation and lack of progress, the company seems a bit unclear as to which path to take but is attemting to solve it from within. However, they know I am still available to help them if necessary. Will keep in constant touch with the consultant, who indicated he will be passing my resume to others that he thinks might be able to use me.

Someone Might Be Knocking - MO sent me an email today indicating he had lunch with BJ, someone with whom I have worked in the past. Apparently, after BJ was “released” from the company a few years ago, he went to work with a major CAD software vendor. Now they are contemplating developing a KM component to compliment their software suite. Since they might need a KM consultant, MO asked if he could forward my contact information - I told him absolutely. Will see what happens..

[Its really comforting to know that people with whom I have built prior friendships, are actively networking to get me connected. Great feeling.]

Home Office - Ran to IKEA today and picked up another tabletop and legs. If I am going to work out of my home office, I need more table space. I have now successfully crammed two 5′ x 2′6″ tables, a dresser, an armoir (with the tv), a 7′ tall bookcase and 2 - 7′ tall x 40″ wide shelf units (where all the records are) AND a leather recliner into a 12′ x 12′ bedroom. Actually, it is extremely efficiently layed out (my background in space planning comes through!) and should help.

Well, it could have been worse had the young “whipper-snapper” decided to experiment with 8mm gay porn reels in his youth. Get a copy of the rock-n-roll album presidential candidate John Kerry recorded in 1961 with six of his schoolmates at St. Paul School in New Hampshire. Destined to be forgettable.

ACTION: John Kerry and The Electras

Blowing Up Gotti - Some good life lessons. Right, FOR THE INSANE!